My Soul card is a Reaper

If it aims a sonic scream skill at the nests of these ants, it can draw them out. The Nether ants might be weak individually but they were tens of thousands in number and their bites contain poison. They can surround me."

Azzy turned toward her and nodded with a smile, "Good job, Talia. Now, what will you do then?"

"Eh?" Talia was surprised once again, feeling like she cut down the branch of the tree she was sitting on. Her excitement turned into embarrassment and she started stuttering, "I… I will… I…"

As some of the students continued to enjoy the scene where their classmate is struggling to speak, the class monitor came to her rescue. Julius spoke, "Sir, we can use a flying card. Neither Espurrs nor the Nether ants can fly."

"Nope. Not possible." Azzy firmly shut down his answer before looking at the shy girl beside him. "Talia, tell us why."

After a brief thought, she explained, "The magnetic fields in the Skylar Mountains are unstable and hence, it is very difficult to use flight unless you are either an expert or of wind attribute."

"Then, what should you do? If you don't escape in time, you will die there." Azzy pressed her to give the right answer.

"I don't know." Talia shook her head while looking down at the floor. After a brief pause, she added, "I guess I will send a message to my friends while I fight to the death?"

Azzy observed the entire class for a few seconds to see if anyone can come up with an answer. When he was met with silence, he told the girl to sit down and then, he walked to the whiteboard and wrote 'tools'.

"You should always be aware of the tools you can use in a situation," said Azzy as he came back to his earlier position, before his desk. Placing his hands on the desk, he continued, "Message card, Flying card, healing card, SP recovery card, and random teleportation card. These five-item cards are a necessity on a trip to the wild.

And you should never put them in your storage card. Always keep those things in your pocket.

If you have gotten into such a situation, your first priority is to analyze the situation and whether you can deal with it or not. When you can't, you look for a way to escape.

If you can't find one, always have to use the random teleportation card in your hand, not one but atleast two so that if you coincidentally encounter a danger when teleporting, you can immediately use the second one.

If you fall into danger once again, well, it's your bad luck. But, even then, you can use energy eruption to push away the enemies to get some time and then use the teleportation card or a flying card to escape.

Now, coming to this situation, instead of trying to escape and make it worse by getting surrounded by the Nether ants, all you have do is to attack the leader. Do you know the most important characteristics of an Espurr? They are bloody cowards.

Again, use the energy eruption when you are ambushed by Espurrs, followed by the swift usage of the SP recovery item card. Go into offense but only target their leader.

The subordinates won't come to help when their leader is battling. I don't think it should be difficult to swiftly slay a purple-grade Espurr which has the strength of a mere mid-rank-4 for you students.

In general, all I want to say is that those who knew how to use their tools in a timely manner and those who knew about their own strength as well as their enemies will have a far higher chance of survival compared to those who don't.

I don't know if you think I'm treating you like kids or something by teaching such basics but in my life, I have seen deaths occur because of either foolishness or ignorance. So, I should atleast make you understand this much in our first meeting."

As everyone nodded seriously, feeling like Azzy is dependable, the latter clapped with a smile, "Anyways, *clap*, this is our first day. So, let's not go deep into serious matters. Before we resume the Q&A session, if any of you have questions for me, feel free to ask."

As soon as he spoke those words, several hands were shot into the air, surprising him a bit.

He pointed at the girl sitting in the front row, "Okay, let's start with you. Just one question."

"Sir, are you single?" asked the girl named Via.

"Ohhhh!" Cheers escaped from the back row in response.

Azzy didn't mind it and just answered by shaking his head, "No, I have a girlfriend. We are currently in a long-distance relationship. Next…"

"Aww"

A collective response came from the female students.

Then, a boy in the front row asked, "Sir, what is your soul realm?"

"That's a secret." Azzy decided to be mysterious, "Next."

"How did you suppress your soul energy to such an extent?" asked another boy. Azzy refused to answer that question too. "A trade secret."

"How old are you?" "44"

"What are your hobbies?" "Training and reading books"

"What is the strongest monster you have faced?" "Hmm… I guess a 6-headed Hydra?" "Wooow" "So cool"

"What is your favorite food?" "BBQ Pizza"

The curious students, one after another, were asking Azzy questions about his personal life. Whatever that can be answered, Azzy answered with honesty as they weren't such a big deal in his view.

Talia was the last person to ask the question. And she decided to be sincere instead of trying to be funny like the rest.

"Sir, I wonder what is better, fighting a monster and absorbing its core or just absorbing the attribute energy from an elemental crystal?"

"Hmm..." Azzy fell silent for a few seconds and then answered as the others also turned curious. "It depends on your goal. If you only want to live longer peacefully, then, there's no need to risk your life. The world is no longer the same as three decades ago.

Back then, not everyone can opt for different paths in life that don't involve fighting. But today, it is different because of the fast development of technology.

However, conflict is the nature of humans. My master opinioned that it is true for every era in the past and it will be the same in the future.

Like with the earlier example about facing the ambush of Espurrs, if you want to run away, you must know your tools and strengths, and weaknesses to escape and settle in a peaceful region.

But, if you want to face it, then, you must also possess strength and courage. And strength and courage cannot be acquired by growing up in a greenhouse. You must go out there, fight the monsters, perhaps, escape from the brink of death once in your life, and win against your opponents and fear.

Each has its own perks and disadvantages. Neither is wrong in my opinion. It all comes down to your choice."

Talia asked for a simple answer and everyone felt like they got a life lesson from this new teacher.

Maybe, it is because a majority of them were from a humble background. Or maybe, it is because Azzy spoke softly with them and acted friendly. Whatever the reason it might be, Azzy left a good impression on the students of this class and everyone liked him, contrary to the teenagers in the neighboring classroom.

Once the personal questions were done, Azzy saw the time and there is still more than half an hour left. He utilized the time by resuming his Q&A session.

30 minutes later;

*Trrrring*

The bell has rung, indicating that their class is over.

Azzy closed the book and placed it in the storage card and said to everyone, "Okay, students. We will meet in tomorrow's class. In today's practical combat class, make sure to note down important details of your combat. We will discuss the flaws and how to improvise and everything."

Everyone stood up as Azzy left the classroom.

While walking away, he thought, "It is surely easy to mingle with students who had nothing to do with your mission."